Monty Banks as "Sherlock Holmes Jr."

[Gregg Rickman]

Here's a query. Variety (2/10/22) reports "'Sherlock Holmes Jr.' is the title of a new Monty Banks comedy being made at Warner Brothers' studio. Banks just finished 'Sinkers.'" ("Coast Picture News," pg. 35.)

I don't see either of these titles in Banks' IMDB filmography (I know, I know, but where are there other Banks filmographies?). I see from a 1985 essay on Banks by David Levy, on line at early-american-cinema.com, that Banks starred in a series of two-reelers for Warners in 1921, with four out by that fall. The distributor was happy, Levy says, but Banks wasn't, and turned up the following autumn in New York to form Monty Banks Enterprises together with someone named "Norman Toroque," ex of Larry Semon's comedies. Well, we can guess who "Toroque" is.

If we look at the IMDB filmography, Banks' Warners releases end in December 1921 with "Cleaned and Dry" and then after several months "Pure but Simple," a Monty Banks Production, comes out in September 1922. This fits Levy's outline perfectly. In that case, however, were "Sinkers" and "Sherlock Holmes Jr." unreleased/ released under other titles?

A couple of postscripts: Variety finds Banks filming on Catalina Island two weeks later. ("Coast Picture News," 2/24/22, 35.) His co-star is Thelma Worth, whose only IMDB credit is a Guinn "Big Boy" Williams western feature of 1921. My real interest however in all this is the intriguing detail that Jean Havez (future scenarist on a film with a similar title to Banks' mystery film, one "Sherlock Jr.") had gagged for Monty Banks earlier in 1921. (He'll actually have a credit on a later Banks film, in 1924.) I've followed Havez's trajectory through the pages of Variety as follows: He left the Keaton unit when Buster had his accident on the first version of "The Electric House." He went to “the Lasky lot” to write gags for Roscoe Arbuckle. (“Coast Film News,” Variety 3/11/21, 33.) Finding "Gasoline Gus" “a little too highbrow” Havez relocated to Special Productions (Monte Banks, Louise Fazenda and others) the following month, and then, billed as “the principal man for gags,” to Harold Lloyd’s studio in June. (“Jean Havez’s Switch,” Variety 4/22/21, 44; “Coast Film News,” Variety 6/10/21, 36.) While there, he helped write Lloyd’s first three feature length films, A Sailor Made Man, Grandma’s Boy and Dr. Jack; he also helped out on Safety Last! before returning to Keaton for his early features.

Havez was thus only with Banks, in 1921 anyway, in April-June, but it's still fun to wonder, if "Sherlock Holmes Jr" surfaces, if it will have any gags involving Monty Banks walking into a movie screen.

[Richard M Roberts]

Well, the chances of Monty Banks doing the movie screen gag from SHERLOCK JR is slim to none, though he does do some good split screen special effects gags in A QUIET VACATION (1923).

The problem with the Warner Brothers shorts, here and with the Al St. Johns, is that they seemed to trade off titles both before and after release, so both SINKERS ansd SHERLOCK HOLMES JR were definitely working titles. We only show Thelma Worth as his leading lady in the very late Warner brothers shorts, Florence Gilbert is Banks leading lady in most of those films. I only show Worth as appearing in one Banks Warners short which exists in a version titled BE CAREFUL, but that may have not been it's only title either.

Steve Massa may have more info.

RICHARD M ROBERTS